There are several pictures of my partner on my desk and Facebook, but they say “We haven’t met him so you’re obviously lying” in a teasing manner.

Their comments come off as jokes, but their accusations are extremely hurtful. Is there a way for me to get my coworkers to stop without making it a big deal?

I’ve been dating my significant other for several years and he doesn’t like large social gatherings.

After a few years at different companies, he decided corporate events like holiday parties weren’t his thing and I respect that.

At this point, I’d email him — perhaps cc’ing his boss if that’s appropriate in your office — and say something like this: “As you know, I’ve been very ill for the last three weeks and was in the hospital for 10 days.

Because of the seriousness of the illness, my doctors say I need at least another week off before I will be able to return to work.I will contact you on (date) to update you about whether I will be well enough to return on (hoped-for return date).Because I’ve been told to rest, I most likely will not be answering texts or emails during that time.I spoke to one of my colleagues who called to check up on me and he said my boss was frustrated I wasn’t back yet.My colleague had suffered from glandular fever when he was younger and was sick for weeks/months so totally understood how I was feeling, and had stuck up for me.My boss was away on annual leave for the first two weeks of me being sick, but since he has returned, he’s been contacting me constantly to find out when I’ll be returning to work.